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- Oct 8, 2008
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Liking both music and technology leads to a weary ambivalence as you wonder which one's the means and which one's the end. I've lurked over a variety of dense threads over head-fi and diy forums, but each devolves into post after post of arguments over the specifics of a technical measurement or aesthetic preference. No one ever seems to want to admit the lower bounds for listening enjoyment.
During my time frequenting head-fi I've grown spoiled to the extent of using an outboard DAC to feed a power-hungry Stax amp, which in turn energizes a ridiculously good sounding electrostatic headphone. The rig delivers just the sound I want, albeit with an exorbitant electricity bill and a decidedly "tweako audiophile" look to the system. But I don't mind slumming it with a car stereo or a beater set of Sennheiser HD25s powered by a sandisk clip. Hell, given the choice of listening to music over a thirty-year-old fisher price tape deck and listening to indoor/outdoor traffic, I'd still tune in
So let's start a lo-fi thread: what's your basic necessity for enjoying music. I'm speaking of Koss portables and muddy-sounding Best Buy all-in-ones. What's the crappiest system you've owned that has allowed you to indulge in music with an acceptable amount of intrusive distortion or frequency deviation?
During my time frequenting head-fi I've grown spoiled to the extent of using an outboard DAC to feed a power-hungry Stax amp, which in turn energizes a ridiculously good sounding electrostatic headphone. The rig delivers just the sound I want, albeit with an exorbitant electricity bill and a decidedly "tweako audiophile" look to the system. But I don't mind slumming it with a car stereo or a beater set of Sennheiser HD25s powered by a sandisk clip. Hell, given the choice of listening to music over a thirty-year-old fisher price tape deck and listening to indoor/outdoor traffic, I'd still tune in
So let's start a lo-fi thread: what's your basic necessity for enjoying music. I'm speaking of Koss portables and muddy-sounding Best Buy all-in-ones. What's the crappiest system you've owned that has allowed you to indulge in music with an acceptable amount of intrusive distortion or frequency deviation?